Michelle Dorrance began dancing under the Tutelage of Leading Youth Tap director Gene Medler at the Ballet School of Chapel Hill in North Carolina. She spent ten years with his North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble performing both as a company member and as a soloist at the St. Louis Tap Festival, the Chicago Human Rhythm Project, and international festivals in Europe and South America. She was a founding member of Savion Glover's company "Ti Dii," performing with him at the Joyce Theater, Monaco Dance Festival's "Nijinsky Awards," the "2002 Winter Olympics," the "Jerry Lewis Telethon," and the "Cannes Film Festival." She has taught and performed as a solo artist at the "North Carolina Rhythm Tap Festival," the "International FeetBeat Festival in Finland," "Tap Encontro in Brazil," the "Groovin High" workshops in Japan, as well as both the Dusseldorf and the Heidelberg Stepptanz Festivals in Germany.
Michelle was dance captain and soloist in the premier run of Common Ground, a spotlight dancer with the vintage jazz band "The Squirrel Nut Zippers," as well as with the dynamic duo "Bitch and Animal," and was a cultural ambassador to Russia for the town of Chapel Hill representing tap dancing as an indigenous American art form. Michelle's choreography has been showcased throughout the country and internationally, and has been featured at Jacob's Pillow with Cintia Chameki's "Ritmico," at Birdland with members of the Duke Ellington Orchestra, in the New York City Tap Festival's Gala performances, as well as in a commercial for Toyota Taiwan. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts from New York University's Gallatin school.
Michelle is currently a member of Barbara Duffy and Company, deez and deez, Manhattan Tap, and is on faculty at Broadway Dance Center. She is honored to have spent time with and has been heavily influenced by Gene Medler, Savion Glover, Dianne Walker, Josh Hilberman, Ted Levy, Sam Weber, Brenda Buffalino, Barbara Duffy, Buster Brown, Cholly Atkins, Jimmy Slyde and Mable Lee.